September 2000

International Affairs Committee activities report

Ken Haag
Committee Chair

Steven Coveys fifth habit of Highly Effective People states, Seek first
to understand, then to be understood. During the past year the International
Affairs Committees activities have been devoted to better understanding the
value that international activities can bring to APWA members.

When I first entered the public works profession I felt that all I needed to
know was taught in engineering school. As you well know, I was WRONG. Through
participation in chapter activities, my learning the similarities of operations
in other communities and states greatly enhanced my ability to serve my
community. Much later in my career I have come to appreciate the fact that all
public works knowledge does not reside in the United States and Canada. Although
the governing structure or organization may not exactly reflect what we are
accustomed to seeing, the basic needs of the public for efficient
transportation, a healthy environment, and efficiency in government does not
change across national borders.

During the past year we have attempted to present a series of articles that
focused on public works activities in other nations, and methods that have
proven effective in enhancing international understanding. With the opportunity
presented by eight issues of the APWA Reporter, we have covered asset
management in Australia, cooperative agreements between San Diego and Tijuana,
and a U.S.-Japan exchange program. We have also covered public works in the
Slovak Republic, Australias international exchange program, the use of
traffic circles, and the use of electronic communications to further
international exchanges.

In addition to these articles, the committee arranged to have some APWA
members submit articles for publication in Australias Public Works
Engineering magazine. We were able to arrange for President Fay to attend
the AMMAC meeting in Mexico and are currently exploring the possibilities of
creating a Mexico Chapter. We have also arranged hosts for some of our
international visitors while they visit us. We advanced our talks with Japan
towards a more formal agreement and drafted an agreement with the Slovak Public
Works Association.

These articles and activities were accomplished with the hope that a better
understanding of activities across national borders would generate some added
international activities, and that these activities would in turn benefit our
members. I can safely say, from personal experience, that we have much to learn
from the international community. Any community that is consolidating units of
government could learn much from Australias experience of forming 70-plus
units from more than 260 in the early 90s. The recycling efforts observed in
Germany could teach us much about managing solid waste. And, while the U.S. is
presenting engineering awards for the innovative use of traffic circles in
Vale, Colorado, the rest of the world has been successfully using these for
years.

There are unlimited opportunities for learning from our counterparts
throughout the world. We are truly living in a Global Village and almost
instantaneous communication means that this information is readily available to
all of us. I would anticipate that APWA could also benefit by increasing its
international activities. There is clearly a vast source of untapped membership
potential throughout the world and the private sector members in other countries
will be interested in reaching our members. The individual APWA members, both
public and corporate, will also wish to become active in the global village.

It has been my pleasure to serve as committee chair for this year and I wish
my successor the best. If I can be of service, please do not hesitate to call on
me.